Westinghouse -- GE -- Again -- !!!!!!!!!

[Jim Holland]

Greetings!

	A while back we had discussions on the split of the electrical gear
between these two suppliers and were wondering why this was done, esp in
Pgh a Westinghouse town.  While this does not specifically answer the
question of 'why-the-split' it does reveal reasons as to 'why the cars
were scrapped.'

	Again from the very last para-giraffe on pg.34 *PCC From Coast to
Coast* I quote:::::::

	"The confusion with which the MBTA dealt with its PCC fleet is
exemplified by the scrapping program begun in late 1976.  Of the 12
all-electrics eliminated, half had been overhauled under the federal
rehabilitation program between 1973 and 1976.  Some of those cars had
gone directly from overhaul at Everett to pre-scrap storage at
Arborway.  Also hard hit by the scrapper's torch were the Picture Window
cars, both groups being singled out because of their non-standard
General Electric control systems."

	While I personally prefer Westinghouse, I am still quick to point out
that this GE scrapping was probably due more to expediency than
inferiority - the only GE cars on the Boston system were the
all-electrics (25-cars) and Picture Window cars (50-cars) out of a total
of 346 PCC cars.  With just better than 20% of the fleet being GE, they
were more oddball and a nuisance and ultimately used as a *reason(?) for
fleet downsizing regardless of the fact that they were the newest
vehicles on the property.

James B. Holland

        Pittsburgh  Railways  Company  (PRCo),   1930  --  1950
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